Bush Will Use 2008 Budget Plan to Propose Biggest Increase in Pell Grant Program in a Generation

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Bush will use 2008 budget plan to propose biggest increase in Pell Grant program in a generation

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In his 2008 budget to be released on Monday, President Bush plans to call for raising the maximum Pell Grant by nearly 14 percent, or $550, next year, the biggest one-year jump in the award for low-income students in more than three decades, the secretary of education, Margaret Spellings, announced this afternoon.

The plan also calls for a jump of 33 percent, or $1,350, in the maximum award over the next five years.

In a wide-ranging speech on higher education, delivered at North Carolina State University, Ms. Spellings said tuition costs had made it "difficult for low- and middle-income families to afford college."

"This is real money that will help more low-income students achieve the dream of a college education," Ms. Spellings said.

By making the announcement in advance of the official release of the budget, on Monday, the administration is trying to steal headlines from the new Democratic leadership in Congress, which in recent days successfully pushed through an increase in the maximum Pell Grant for this year. On Wednesday the House of Representatives passed a budget bill for 2007 in which the Pell Grant would rise by 6 percent, or $260, to $4,310. The Senate has yet to take up its version of the 2007 budget, even as the president prepares his budget for the 2008 fiscal year, which begins on October 1. But the Senate is considered likely to pass the House bill or legislation very similar to it.

The maximum Pell Grant has been stuck at $4,050 since 2002, while its purchasing power has been eroded by inflation. In the 2005-6 academic year, the Pell award covered just 33 percent of the average cost of tuition, fees, and room and board at a four-year public institution, according to the College Board. In 2001-2, the Pell covered 42 percent of those costs. Twenty years ago, it was nearly 60 percent.

Last fall the Democrats made the issue of college affordability a central plank in their platform to retake Congress, promising among other things to raise the maximum Pell Grant to $5,100. What's unclear about both the president's proposal and the Democrats' plans, however, is how they plan to pay for them. A significant increase in spending on Pell Grants carries an extremely high price tag, and Ms. Spellings did not say this afternoon where the administration will find the money.

Watch for a longer report on the president's proposal in tomorrow's Daily Report, on this Web site.

• Democrats' Spending Plan Preserves Agricultural Research Funds and Supports NIH Roadmap Project (1/31/2007)

• Democratic Leaders in Congress Propose Increases for Scientific Research and Pell Grants in 2007 Budget (1/30/2007)